


Intuition

by Munday



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Original Character(s), Other, Relationship(s), Romance, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 20:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20087953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munday/pseuds/Munday
Summary: "But he's in here, I can feel it. We can't back out now! Especially after travelling all this way! We need answers!" They could feel it, but why weren't they frightened? This felt wrong, everything felt wrong. He needed to leave, get away, anything, as long as it meant getting as far as possible from that cave.The cave scene from Muriel's update but with a nasty twist. Read at your own peril. I wrote this using my OC's name then changed it out to 'Apprentice' when I finished so I wouldn't get distracted. Also changed out pronouns to neutral so you can imagine your OC in her place regardless of gender ?CW GORE MENTIONWritten on a whim with no beta reading oops





	Intuition

Something felt wrong the moment Muriel sensed thick, dark, dangerous energy coming from the cave. Every inch of his skin prickled with nervous energy, his hairs were on end. 

"Apprentice, let's go, we need to leave." He squeezed out a warning amongst the stifling air, feeling his heart pick up in speed whilst his palms became clammy.

"But he's in here, I can feel it. We can't back out now! Especially after travelling all this way! We need answers!" They could feel it, but why weren't they frightened? This felt wrong, everything felt wrong. He needed to leave, get away, anything, as long as it meant getting as far as possible from that cave.

"We need to go in."

"We don't, it's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."

"And leave Vesuvia, the world even, at stake? If you won't come with me, that's fine. I'll just go alo-"

"F-fine." Muriel wasn't a man to interrupt, but the thought of letting Apprentice go alone was far more terrifying than going with them. However it took a second for dread to settle in. He couldn't stop them, they were far too headstrong and stubborn to let fear guide them, especially with other lives at stake. It was usually an admirable quality of theirs but in this situation it was maddening.

Muriel's intuition screamed at him to reconsider. His body urged him desperately to fly, whilst his heart took the reigns to fight alongside someone who had quickly become so precious to him.

Apprentice took his hand gently and caught his eyes with theirs, freezing them in place. Gorgeous orbs flickered with ferocity, but also had a glimmer of warmth which held him there gently. 

This was it. 

Neither of them knew what to expect, and neither of them thought to wait for Morga either.

\----------------------------

Their cautious footsteps echoed menacingly through the cave as they crept closer to its heart, and it wasn't long before they could hear muttering from everywhere as the sound waves bounced at them from all angles. However the sound gathered in volume, eventually revealing itself to be coming from one place as they got closer to the source.

Vulgora was pacing back and forth whilst a smudge of translucent white seemed to be fiddling with something sinister on the ground. Within an instant their pacing stopped, and Vulgora cracked a devilish grin at Muriel and Apprentice, who had frozen at the entrance to the heart of the cave.

"Nice of you to join us, took you long enough," Vulgora spat eagerly through an unsettling set of teeth, which gleamed menacingly in the caves low lighting.

Any retort from Apprentice was interrupted by a grunt from the white being, who was busily ripping at what looked like the chest of a corpse. 

"Lucio!" They yelled instead, ready to run at him at full pelt, though Muriel was quick to grab and hold them in place. "What is he doing, why are you here?"

"None of your business, you little brat!" Vulgora spat. "And now you're here, it's time for you and your mutt to die!"

Apprentice didn't even have a chance to react to Vulgora's effort at winding them up before they launched their first attack right at them. Apprentice was quick to summon a protective shield but it seemed that something in the cave was suppressing their power. Vulgora's sharp claws swiped dangerously at them, but Muriel was quick to pull Apprentice behind him, taking the brunt of the damage. This was no ordinary scrape either, those claws were pulsing with magic and it was clear by the blood welling on Muriel's face that they could do much more damage than they initially seemed.

Muriel staggered back a little from the attack, but still did his best to act as a barrier to the magician behind him. This was going downhill very quickly. All the pair had was a magician with no magic, and a man who'd retired from fighting and bloodshed.

"Muriel." Apprentice did their best to keep their voice low enough for only him to hear. "I need to get to Lucio, please keep Vulgora distracted."

"W-what?? Then I can't protect you!"

"There's no time! I need you to do this! On a count of one."

"No!"

"Two."

"Apprentice please!"

"Three."

And in a second they were gone from behind him and sprinting towards Lucio. This only took a split second for Vulgora to spot, leaving Muriel with no choice but to run at them and launch an attack with all the strength he could summon. 

Muriel was a lot faster than Vulgora expected, dodging deadly talons fairly easily. With his friend in danger, his terror and anxiety had been thrown to the back of his mind whilst his fist connected with Vulgora's face. He went to strike them again when his other fist was met with air, Vulgora had gone.

In a split second Muriel spotted them gaining quickly on Elaina, who had only just arrived in front of Lucio. In another split second, he could see his anxiety fueled visions playing right in front of his eyes in what felt like slow motion. His feet couldn't move fast enough. He couldn't scream loud enough. 

A handful of claws plunged deep into Apprentice's chest.

Their eyes stared wildly at Vulgora's crazed face as they stared right back, a crazed grin coating their face, their eyes mad with destruction and death.

Vulgora held the magician in place for what seemed like an eternity, before Apprentice's legs gave way. Vulgora pulled their clawed hand away again, letting them fall in a heap on the floor. Only then did time suddenly start again, and Muriel was there in an instant.

Lucio finally looked up from his work, staring down at the bloody mess with amusement. He was about to speak when his thoughts were interrupted by a glint of metal mere feet away, behind Vulgora. He was about to yell a warning but a spear was plunged into Vulgora's side before they had a chance to react. They turned to see Morga with her weapon in hand, and the point buried deep where armour failed to cover them. Morga twisted the spear with inhuman strength, grinding her teeth as she did her best to damage the foe in front of her.

Though taken aback at first, Vulgora was quick to turn to greet their latest guest, further disturbing the spear which sent red beetles cascading onto the floor.

"Ah yes, Morga, we finally meet!" They grinned.

Morga only stared back with fury, yanking the spear out with enough force to cause even more red beetles to spill out.

"Vulgora, I've got the heart, let's go." Lucio shouted quicķly, halting them in their thoughts. He quickly motioned with his hand and disappeared. His mother's appearance had quickly crashed his mood and he was quick to avoid her.

"Ah that's a shame, well, I guess I'll see you again soon!" Vulgora nearly sang out to Morga, before also copying the motion and disappearing.

They took their aura with them, but what was left was a thousand times more heartwrenching.

Muriel cradled Apprentice's tattered body to his chest, silently weeping as they struggled to breathe in his arms. They were a mess of torn flesh and puncture wounds which oozed awfully as their chest rose and fell in shallow bursts, each filled with agony. 

"Why?" he mouthed silently through streams of tears, loudly gasping a breath only to squeeze it out in silent sobs.

Morga was knelt by him in a split second, not that he had noticed, and she looked over Apprenticr critically, trying to survey their condition as quickly as possible. However, she knew already that things were bleak.

"Why didn't you wait for me? Why were you so weak!" She spat through gritted teeth. 

"I-- I sorry." Apprentice wheezed out almost silently, their eyes half closed. 

Muriel ran a shaky hand over their cheek, wiping away a tear that hadn't yet been stained red. However the spot was soon wet again from his own tears joining theirs. 

Morga stopped herself before saying anything else. Her criticism wasn't going to fix the situation, all she could do is try and stabilise them and at least make them comfortable. Stripping off an outer layer of her clothing, she ripped off pieces try and stop the bleeding, though it seemed entirely pointless at this point, so she draped the piece over them up to the chin to help at least keep them warm.

At this point Apprentice's vision was disturbed by spots and flickering, and their body felt cold and floaty. Though the feelings were new, the overall sensation felt strangely familiar, and it was getting hard for them to keep their eyes open.

"Apprentice! Stay with me! Please!" Muriel near shouted in panic clutching them tighter and shaking them lightly.

"S-sorry, nn-n I love you." they managed to whisper before laying limply in his arms.

Morga hung her head.

Muriel's world shattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Well  
That was a thing.
> 
> My first post on here and I'm probably not off to a good start here... I hope you enjoyed it in some capacity. I'm not super sure of any sort of plans or ideas I'll actually commit to for future stories, though I would really appreciate any comments or thoughts you may have on this!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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